1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical compensation film and a polarizing plate useful as constitutive members of liquid-crystal display devices, and to a liquid-crystal display device.
2. Related Art
Various optical compensation films have been proposed for improving the viewing angle properties of liquid-crystal display devices. The optical compensation films compensate birefringence of a liquid-crystal cell, thereby contributing toward improving viewing angle properties. However, the viewing angle properties of a liquid-crystal display device are greatly influenced by the shifting of the transmission axes of a pair of polarizers disposed inside the liquid-crystal display device, from vertical configuration when being observed in oblique directions, or that is, by the viewing angle properties of the polarizers. The viewing angle properties of polarizers cause the color shift to occur when liquid-crystal display devices employing any mode in the black state are observed in oblique directions.
JPA No. 2002-221622 proposes a wide-viewing angle polarizing film produced by laminating retardation films satisfying predetermined optical characteristics, as a polarizing film capable of preventing light leakage in oblique directions of the polarizing film and free from a problem of coloration of the leaking light.